I Was Born To Be A Mom #imbornto #sp

Almost 24 years ago, I gave birth to my first daughter. I can barely wrap my brain around that number. I kid you not, it feels like it should’ve been just yesterday I was holding her as a newborn baby in my arms.

Next month has not only Mother’s Day, but also the day my oldest will graduate with her Master’s Degree in Social Work. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone from her being in my tummy to her going into the working world full time, doing what she was born to do.

When I think back to finding out I was pregnant with her, I remember not believing it was true. lol I had only been married a month! She was a honeymoon baby. There was so much newness in my life at that time. I’d only been a Christian for a few months. I’d only been married for a month. Now I was going to be a mom.

I didn’t know much about being pregnant. I was only 22 and very ignorant. Even though I’d taken a family life class in high school, it certainly didn’t prepare me for pregnancy. Thankfully I had a wonderful doctor who educated me along the way.

When I was about 24 weeks along, I started having contractions. I was working full time, and on my feet all day long. I had started to dilate, but not to the point of the doctor needing to do anything drastic. I was required to sit at my job, and was put on medication to stop the contractions. Let me just say, as a first time, and young mom, it was pretty scary.

As we got to the end of the pregnancy, I had an ultrasound and it showed a mass inside of her. We even have it on video tape! The doctor sent us to an ultrasound specialist a week or so later, but we and friends prayed over her, and when we went to our appointment, there was nothing there!
My daughter’s original due date was supposed to be August 11th, but she decided to come early on July 27th. We’d just gotten done with a day on the water, and I had a feeling my contractions were starting. She was my smallest baby, and the only one I ever had an epidural for. Go figure! If I remember, she was 6 lbs 13 oz. Yep, she was pretty tiny.

I wish I had pictures of her as a newborn with me. In just a few months I’ll have them with me again as we bring all of our belongings out to Maryland! When I get my hands on them I’ll try to remember to come back and post some of those pictures.

In the meantime, I’m one of 39 bloggers (representing the length of a full-term pregnancy) joining The Motherhood to share about the importance of the March of Dimes. I know first hand how important a healthy pregnancy means to mom and baby!

Did you know for more than 75 years, the March of Dimes has
been helping families? Check out these staggering statistics:

In the United States:
• 1 baby is born prematurely
every minute
• approximately 72 die each
day before reaching their first
birthday 

Worldwide:
• 15 million babies are born
too soon each year

This year, you can partner with the March of Dimes in a variety of ways! You can make the March of Dimes your charity of choice for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day (can’t forget those dads). You can also make purchases that will benefit them as well.

Here’s who you can shop with to benefit the March of Dimes and help make sure more babies are born healthy!



• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

o Chef Emeril Lagasse has teamed up with Martha Stewart Living to help raise at least $30,000 for the March of Dimes by giving patrons the opportunity to add a donation to their check at participating Emeril Restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Orlando and Charlotte. This runs from 4/26 to 5/10 and from 6/7 to 6/21.

o Fans can also participate by joining the #thx2u movement and sharing what their thankful for (visit www.marthastewart.com/thx2u to learn more; please share starting MONDAY APRIL 13). For every baby photo uploaded with a caption about what their thankful for with the hashtag #thx2u, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Meredith Corporation will be making a $10 donation.
• Bon-­‐Ton (and www.bonton.com)

o Customers of The Bon-­‐Ton Stores (and any of their other 7 nameplates) will receive a $10-­‐off coupon for every $3 donation to the March of Dimes made at checkout.

o When the donation is made online, instead of a $10-­‐off coupon, it will be a 25% off coupon.
o In addition, when a customer makes a $1 donation with a women’s fragrance purchase of $75 or more prior to Mother’s Day, they will receive an atomizer filled with the fragrance of their choice. 
This will run from April 30th to Mother’s Day and will be revisited again in June for Father’s Day.
o Link: www.bonton.com/marchofdimes
• MudPie

o MudPie will donate $2 to the imbornto campaign for every Bella Bar, Mom Bar and Mommy and Me jewelry item purchased for Mother’s Day.
o In addition, MudPie will donate 10 cents from each baby headband or sock purchase to the March of Dimes throughout the year.
o Link: http://www.mud-­‐pie.com/march-­‐of-­‐dimes-­‐imbornto
• A&E Jewelers

o Will be donating 20% of the purchase price from each brand new twinkling Swarovski encrusted sterling silver March of Dimes Enchanted “Healthy Beginnings” Necklace that was designed for this campaign.
o Link: www.aejewelers.com
• eBay Giving Works
o Visit eBay’s Charity Shop for Mother’s Day gifts where proceeds from your purchase support the March of Dimes. Also, from April 30 – May 11, you’ll be able to make a donation to the March of Dimes in checkout when making purchases on eBay.
o Link: www.ebay.com
• Kmart
o Celebrate mom with a gift of puppy love! From April 15 to June 21, Kmart will donate $1 from the purchase of each mother/baby puppy ornament to the March of Dimes.
o Link: www.kmart.com
• ALEX AND ANI

o ALEX AND ANI have designed their Special Delivery Bangle to honor all mothers. The Special Delivery Bangle is available in pink or blue both in copper and silver. 20% of each bangle sold will benefit the March of Dimes.
o Link: www.alexandani.com/pink-­‐special-­‐delivery-­‐charm-­‐bangle.html

What are you hoping for your children as they grow up?

Wedding Dress Bliss #FredNMimiSayIDo

My first attempt at trying on wedding dresses didn’t go so well. Mom and I started off at a boutique where the first dress I tried on was stunning and fit me like a glove. I fell in love with it! Going in I had no idea what I was looking for in a wedding dress, but at that moment, I knew…THAT was the dress I wanted.

That next week I could only think of that dress. Someone suggested going to a consignment shop. I was thinking, “I really don’t want to go to Goodwill to search for a wedding dress.” It really wasn’t the direction I wanted to go. I figured if it came down to it, I’d head back to David’s Bridal, and really spend a lot of time trying on a variety of dresses.

I don’t know what happened, but I decided to search Google for used wedding dresses. Actually I think I typed in “consignment wedding dresses.” One place came up, and thankfully I clicked on it. It was to a parent site Success In Style. Their mission is to

“assist women and men in crisis in becoming employed and self-sufficient.”

One of their retail stores is called Cherie Amour. They take in donated wedding dresses, as well as formal attire for men and women for any occasion. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get in touch with them. I started by checking them out on Facebook. Just scrolling through their page, I saw that their dresses were beautiful and affordable!

I emailed them and got an appointment for April 18th. I really didn’t want to wait, but I was so excited my friend from church to go shopping with me. So, wait I had to do.

The day finally came and off we went! Because they’re a donation site, there was no way for me to know what kind of selection they would have. Turned out we were the first appointment of the day! They had just gotten done adding on a new section, and that’s where I was taken to try and my two handfuls of dresses.

First one I tried on I knew I wasn’t interested. I didn’t even come out of the changing room. lol The next dress I tried on…BINGO! I came out and Gail loved it right along with me! it fit perfectly, and it had the lace that reminded me of the first dress I tried on!! I almost felt like not trying any more on, but moved on to the next 4 dresses. She and I both liked one of the other dresses, and had my wedding been more of a formal affair, I may have gone with it.

Gail was so cute because she was enthusiastic and really was there to totally help me. She carried my dresses, and even went in search of other dresses as I changed in case I found something else that I could get altered. In the end, the first one I came out in was THE dress.

Guess how much it was?

No, really. Guess.

GUESS!!

Ok, fine, I’ll tell you. $125! I don’t think I saw one gown there over $300. And that $300 dress was stunning! I would imagine people spent thousands of dollars on these dresses.

Now these dresses are NOT consigned or throwaway dresses. They are beautiful, well taken care of dresses. Cherie Amour was a gorgeous boutique, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience if I’d tried.

One of the things we noticed with many of the dresses were notes written on them from the previous brides. Sadly mine didn’t have one. The notes were super sweet and very encouraging.

I’ll have to have my wedding dress altered slightly at the top. I’m not “full” enough up there so I’m going to need some help. Once again, the ladies at the boutique came through and gave me inserts and found this stick on type bra. It’s very interesting to say the least.

I’m also so happy about the dress because I know I’ll be able to wear it more than once. I might not have a lot of opportunities, but it’s simple enough to be worn to a formal event. there’s no train, and it’s not ball gown type so it’s perfect for our little venue! I can’t wait to wear it. Heck, maybe I’ll wear it while I’m working!

How many dresses did you try on before you found the ONE?

Changing My Engagement Ring #FredNMimiSayIDo

Back in December Fred and I went to the jeweler at the mall to get some ideas of what my style would be for an engagement ring. I had no clue what I’d like. The one thing I did know was that I didn’t want a round diamond, I wanted a square one. I had seen one when I went to MI for Amy’s wedding! I fell in love with the shape!

We looked through the cabinets trying various ones on. I have short fingers so I couldn’t have a thick band or it’d take up the entire bottom of my finger, and that would just look ridiculous. We can’t have that.

If you saw my first post about my engagement ring, you know I found a style that I fell in love with. There was just something about the crossover that grabbed me. It also had a sparkle that was just beautiful.

When I got my dream ring, it turned out I had a sensitivity to the scratching of the diamonds on the side of the ring. It felt like sandpaper rubbing between my fingers. I couldn’t think straight when I was wearing it. I truly, truly had hoped to get used to it. I didn’t. I figured the solution would be to find the same exact ring, but with the diamonds set inside of the band.

We went back to the jewelry store, and started searching through their book to find a similar ring. I thought we had found a couple, so we ordered them. A week or so later, we got the call they were in, so I went to take a look. Unfortunately, they hadn’t come back. There was a mix up somewhere and it sounded like nothing had been ordered.

We hit the book again, and tried ordering them again. It was a week and a half later, maybe, that we received the call the rings were in. Turns out there was only one ring. The other ring wouldn’t support the size of my solitaire. Bummer. I don’t remember what the other ring was like, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. Sigh…

The manager at the store said they were going to be having a ring show the next week, and that we could set up a time to see what they had and that she thought there might be something I’d love. Ok. I guess.

This just wasn’t going the way I had hoped. All I wanted was the exact same ring, but with the diamonds inside the band so I didn’t feel them. How could there not be something like that?! There just wasn’t. Sad panda.

We went back to the store at our appointment time, and was shown an array of rings. None of them at all like the engagement ring I was wearing. They showed me lots of different engagement rings, and wedding sets. We finally came down to two sets. They were calling them the big sister and little sister. I knew they looked similar, but for some reason, I didn’t like the look of the smaller one. I think it was because my solitaire wouldn’t have looked as good with the smaller one.

It definitely wasn’t about the price either. I’m not fixated on bling or spending lots of money. If the bigger ring had been significantly less expensive, I still would’ve wanted it simply for the look of it. I was actually heart broken having to turn over the engagement ring Fred had given me. It was something I thought I was going to wear for the rest of my life, and the beauty of it will always stay with me.

They had the guy who sets the stones on hand, and they told us to come back in an hour and a half. As we walked out of the store, I was miserable. The rings they showed us were beautiful, but I was so attached to my engagement ring. Fred was extremely reassuring, and all I could do was agonize. I also agonized over the price because that had increased significantly, but we’d also just purchased the wedding ring since it came as a set.

When we got back, my ring was just being finished. The sales lady for the designer was super wonderful and patient. The store manager had been helpful through it all, and the guy who set my diamond was rather sure of his abilities. lol In fact, he said that he wasn’t impressed at all with how the diamond had been set in my previous engagement ring. He’d just confirmed how I’d felt about how it had been sitting. It seemed to not e very secure, and looking at his handiwork I knew my diamond was safe and sound.

I love my new ring, but absolutely miss the original one. I miss it because my heart and mind had been set on that design, and because Fred had given that to me as a sign of our future. It was extremely hard to give up. One thing I’m holding on to is this ring one of the sales girls showed me at the store. It looks similar to what my engagement ring looked like, and I hope to get it one day!

What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?